CVE-2021-28855Public exploit

Process crash via malformed ICC profile segment

Published Apr 14, 2021 · Updated Jan 26, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in Deark before 1.5.8 allows attackers to crash the process by supplying a crafted PICT file. The PICT ICC-profile item handler passes a null d->iccprofile_file pointer to dbuf_copy, causing dbuf_write to dereference it. Exploitation requires Deark to process the crafted file and interrupts only the affected Deark process.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.90%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in Deark before 1.5.8 allows attackers to crash the process by supplying a crafted PICT file. The PICT ICC-profile item handler passes a null d->iccprofile_file pointer to dbuf_copy, causing dbuf_write to dereference it. Exploitation requires Deark to process the crafted file and interrupts only the affected Deark process.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-28855
Published
Apr 14, 2021
Updated
Jan 26, 2026
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 14, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

4.3NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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